In the courtyard of the brigade headquarters, Zhou Dana sat behind an old square table. Two hurricane lamps were lit on the table, casting a yellowish light that made the courtyard bright in some places and dark in others.
Zhou Zhijun stood next to him, his face tight and his eyes burning with anger.
Below, several militiamen were holding down the prisoners. Wang Haichao was pressed there, trembling violently, water still dripping from his pant legs, leaving two wet spots on the ground.
Wang Haibao was even more disgraceful, wearing nothing but a pair of pants haphazardly tied around his waist, covering his shameful parts in front, with half of his buttocks still exposed, stained with mud and grass clippings.
There was also a short, stout man named Wu Jinshan.
Someone recognized him at a glance, "Isn't that Wu Jinshan who runs a restaurant in Nangang? Why is he here too?"
Zhou Dana's face was as black as the bottom of a pot. His eyes swept over the kneeling men, and he slammed his hand on the table.
He shouted, "Wang Haichao, Wang Haibao! How dare you do such a filthy thing! This is blatant hooliganism!"
Behind the crowd, Liu Cuilan shrank her neck, too scared to breathe loudly.
Hearing Zhou Dana's words, her soul almost flew out of her body. Her unborn child couldn't be fatherless. She gritted her teeth and squeezed through the crowd to the front.
As soon as she reached the front, her legs gave way, and she collapsed on the ground with a "plop," slapping her thighs and wailing.
"Party Secretary! Someone is framing my man! You can't just listen to rumors and wrong a good person!"
Her wailing caused the courtyard to erupt in an uproar.
The Wang brothers were known for petty theft, but no one had ever heard of them harassing women. How did they commit hooliganism?
Just as everyone was whispering and discussing among themselves, two more militiamen dragged someone in.
This person was none other than the maimed Wang Jieshi.
He was followed by Wang Xiaohong, whose face was pale with anxiety. She ran and shouted, "What are you doing? Why did you arrest my brother? What law did he break?"
The two militiamen ignored her and dragged Wang Jieshi directly to the front, standing him in a row with Wang Haichao and the others.
Seeing Wang Jieshi brought in as well, Liu Cuilan's cries caught in her throat, and she opened her mouth for a long time without making a sound.
Wang Xiaohong was also stunned, staring wide-eyed at the scene before her, her mind in a mess.
She wanted to ask what was going on, but catching sight of Zhou Zhijun's face, which was a thousand times colder than usual, the words on the tip of her tongue were swallowed back.
Zhou Dana gritted his teeth, stabbed his pipe hard against the table, and pointed at the men, cursing:
"Look! Look at you useless cowards! Is this what human beings do? You've completely disgraced our Wang Family Village!"
The men hung their heads, their chins almost touching their chests, trembling like leaves, unable to even stand steadily.
Wang Jieshi simply collapsed on the ground, making strange "hehe" sounds, keeping his head down and not daring to look at anyone.
Just then, Wu Jinshan suddenly raised his head, struggling and shouting, "I didn't break the law! I didn't do anything! Why are you arresting me?"
Zhou Zhijun's gaze pierced his face like a nail, and he said coldly, "Wu Jinshan, you colluded with Wang Haichao and Wang Haibao to force a woman. This is a serious crime!"
"Bullshit!" Wu Jinshan roared with red eyes, "I was just doing my accounts at home, I didn't do anything!
You saying I forced a woman is just spitting blood! If you have the guts, get that woman to stand out and identify me to my face!"
Hearing this, Wang Haichao and Wang Haibao suddenly gained some confidence, raised their heads, and glared at Zhou Zhijun.
Wang Haibao shouted at the top of his lungs, "Zhou Zhijun! Who did I force? If you have the guts, let her come out and testify! Without evidence, you are framing good people!"
Wang Haichao also yelled, "Exactly! I didn't do anything, you can't just tie people up for no reason!"
Liu Cuilan scrambled up from the ground, dusted herself off, looked at Zhou Dana, and shouted, "Party Secretary! There's no proof of this, you can't just arrest people!"
Zhou Zhijun glanced at her coldly and gave a militiaman next to him a look.
The militiaman immediately stepped forward, cleared his throat, and recounted everything they had investigated over the past few days and what happened tonight, in front of the whole courtyard of villagers.
As soon as he finished speaking, a collective gasp swept through the courtyard.
"What a sin! These guys are completely devoid of conscience! Why doesn't the heavens strike them dead with lightning!"
"This is truly wicked! If you can't have a child, adopting one would be fine, how could they come up with such a wicked scheme!"
"Wang Jieshi is really not a thing! Has it been easy for Li Chuntao to serve him all these years? How could he do something worse than a beast!"
"If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked; if the lower beam is not straight, it will fall down! These Wangs are really a nest of mud!"
The discussions buzzed like a swarm of flies, making people's heads spin.
Wang Xiaohong trembled all over. She had previously thought Wang Jieshi's illness was cured, but it was all a lie!
She simply couldn't believe that her seemingly honest brother could do such a thing.
When the militia went to their house to arrest him earlier, she was woken up by Wang Jieshi's strange cries and followed them.
At this moment, she suddenly thought of Chuntao. She turned around, pushed through the crowd, and stumbled towards home.
She ran home in one breath, turned the inside and outside rooms upside down, but couldn't find a trace of Chuntao.
At this time, Chuntao was lying on Aunt Zhou's bed, her face as pale as paper.
Aunt Zhou sat by the bed, fanning her with a palm-leaf fan, and gently wiping the tears from her face with a handkerchief in her other hand.
"Tao, ah," Aunt Zhou sighed, her voice full of heartache.
"Your godmother shouldn't say this, but you have to be tough this time, break it off clearly with that bastard Wang Jieshi, and stop serving him!
With your looks and your temper, you'd be more than qualified to marry a commune cadre. Why hang yourself on his crooked tree?"
Chuntao lay there, tears silently streaming down her face, feeling as if her heart was being tightly gripped by something.
Hearing Aunt Zhou's words, it was as if she suddenly figured something out, and her eyes slowly brightened.
She didn't want to live for others anymore. For this life, she wanted to live for herself once.
Regardless of whether Wang Lanhua still lived with her brother, she didn't want to return to the fiery pit of the Wang family anyway.
"Godmother," Chuntao choked out, her voice very hoarse, "I lived an honest life in the Wang family for over four years.
I didn't leave, just thinking my brother could have a home... But this suffering, I really can't bear it anymore..."
Aunt Zhou gently patted her trembling shoulder and softly advised, "Tao, ah, it's not easy for a person to come into this world. Don't always think about others, you have to think for yourself too.
You are still young, and there is a long life ahead!
It's true that you and Wang Lanhua are exchange brides, but you two are different. What kind of life does she live in her husband's family? And what kind of life do you live in the Wang family?
She lives a comfortable life. Even if you leave, she won't mistreat your brother, don't worry!"
As they were talking, Wang Xiaohong's shout came from outside the courtyard gate.
"Sister-in-law!"
Wang Xiaohong rushed into the room, threw herself to the bedside, tightly grabbed Chuntao's hand, and her eyes instantly turned red, "Sister-in-law, are you okay?"
In the Wang family all these years, only Wang Xiaohong and her brother truly treated her well.
Chuntao felt a sour and bitter ache in her heart. She shook her head and said, I am fine.
But as soon as the words left her mouth, her tears fell even harder.
Wang Haichao and his gang have all been tied up! Wang Xiaohong said through gritted teeth. They are holding a public criticism session right now at the brigade headquarters!
Aunt Zhou said hatefully from the side, Those guys are the scum of Wangjiazhai! We have to send them to the commune! Let them sit in jail and have a good long think about what they have done! That way they will not come out to harm anyone else and disgrace our Wangjiazhai!
Meanwhile, right after Wang Xiaohong left, the commune joint defense team and the police comrades arrived at the brigade headquarters.
Wang Haichao and the others had not only committed the crime of hooliganism, but also the crime of forcing themselves upon women, all of which were serious felonies.
Just a few days ago, the higher-ups had issued a notice for a severe crackdown. A storm of strict law enforcement was about to sweep across the country, focusing heavily on crushing unhealthy trends like hooliganism, robbery, and theft.
Upon receiving the report from the Wangjiazhai militia, the commune joint defense team and the local police station did not dare to delay for even a moment, rushing over through the night.
Chief Wu Mingwei led the team personally. Standing on a square table at the brigade headquarters, he held a megaphone and conveyed the higher-ups strict crackdown policies to the gathered crowd.
He encouraged everyone to bravely report petty theft and criminal behaviors, working together to maintain the village public order.
Hearing this, the villagers immediately erupted into cheers, all agreeing that this was a great policy.
Those who usually had sticky fingers began to feel uneasy, their hearts in their throats.
The police were about to take away the Wang Haichao brothers, Wu Jinshan, and Wang Jieshi to interrogate them thoroughly back at the station.
Seeing this, Liu Cuilan suddenly threw herself forward, blocking Wang Haichao. She strained her voice and screamed, I want to report someone! I want to report someone...
